Outdoor Vs Indoor Karting: The Pros & Cons

Posted by admin on February 25, 2016| Featured

Many enthusiasts who are just taking up the sport want to know what the main differences are between indoor and outdoor go karting. They each have their advantages and disadvantages, with a different experience to offer. Capital Karts explore the pros and cons.

Outdoor Track Advantages

In sunny weather, there can be nothing more exciting than whizzing round the track, listening to the roar of the engine. Outdoor tracks are generally bigger than indoor tracks, especially the width of the track. This allows for people to easily overtake other drivers. With sufficient room for drivers to manoeuvre and overtake, the average speeds are usually slightly faster than an indoor track.

With the ability to overtake easily and go faster, outdoor tracks are more professional and semi-professional driver event based. Championships are mostly held on outdoor tracks and therefore they are perfect for improving your driving technique to ensure you’re ready to compete.

Outdoor Track Disadvantages

Outdoor go karting can be fun, but you must be prepared for bad weather! All-weather, waterproof clothes are vital for outdoor karting. Although professionals enjoy the thrill of trying to handle their kart in difficult conditions, beginners and those not as confident may struggle to find the enjoyment in it.

As serious enthusiasts prefer driving on an outdoor track, you need to have a reasonable amount of driving experience to be able to keep up with the pace. Professionals are using these tracks to train for championships and further their career in Motorsport.

Locations are more sporadic, so unless you have a track nearby you’ll have to travel and probably far. Outdoor karting is more expensive than indoor to begin with, take into consideration additional travel costs and a day out go karting soon becomes an expensive endeavor.

Indoor Track Advantages

One of the major pros of indoor karting is that it offers a climate-controlled racetrack. This is actually nothing to do with the kart, but is all about the weather. If you’re racing indoors, it doesn’t matter if it’s pouring with rain, or blowing a gale, or even snowing outside. You’ll never have to cancel a race.

On a slick, indoor track, the karts are safer to drive than outdoors, so it’s less dangerous travelling at higher speeds. Indoor karts usually offer additional safety features compared to regular outdoor karts. An indoor kart tends to be more solid, with the body of the kart in one piece, covering the internal mechanism. The outdoor karts normally have a lot of the motor exposed.

There are many indoor tracks located around the UK, you can usually find at least one within a few miles of your location. Indoor circuits are cheaper than outdoor tracks, especially when you take into consideration the amount you save on travelling. This allows those who want to start getting involved in the karting scene to try it out and ensure they enjoy the sport. It also makes it suitable for friends, family and corporate events who would like to go karting as a day out.

Indoor karting is open to all abilities and allows you to gain experience driving karts and get a foot in the door to progress further if you’d like to.

Indoor Track Disadvantages

As the track is inside a building, an indoor circuit is usually much smaller and slightly slower than outdoor circuits. With it being smaller the tracks are usually narrower which can make overtaking extremely difficult. This makes the average indoor tracks unsuitable for faster, professional racers who want to shave milliseconds off each lap.

Conclusion

Both indoor and outdoor karting have much to offer. If you’re a professional or experienced kart driver that wants to train for competing an outdoor track is great. If you don’t want to spend a lot of money but still want the thrill of driving low and fast around a circuit, indoor karting is for you. It’s also a great option for professionals who want to improve their skills during the winter season.

Capital Karts was created to be a happy medium between an outdoor and indoor karting track – as we have a huge indoor track we are able to run a faster circuit in all weathers at affordable prices in a highly accessible location.